On my visit to our local sporting goods store this morning, the owner's yellow lab followed me around the store, hoping to be petted.
Of course, I obliged.
This reminded me of the laundromat cat I knew years ago. She was a pretty calico who would make the rounds, seeking attention from folks waiting for their wash to get done. And, as we all know, spending time in a coin laundry ain't fun. This cat made a difference. Petting and playing with this cat made the maddening wait seem shorter.
Then the is "Scrambles", a big, orange cat who belongs to our local landscape supply guy.
Scrambles makes it a point to sleep on the counter, right next to the cash register. The proprietor, like me, is an avid fisherman. We spend quite a while talking about fishing, and since Scrambles is lying right there on the counter, he gets stroked and scratched during the conversation.
He doesn't even bother waking up.
To my way of thinking, it takes a special kind of animal to hang around in a business all day, being petted and handled by dozens of strangers.
Do you have any stores like this in your town? Makes shopping a little more fun, doesn't it?

I used to go to a record store called Boogie Records back before the big Best Buy type chains knocked 'em all out of business, and they had a couple of golden retrievers that would just lounge around the store. Very nice doggies.

I was once riding a bus, when some negro teens started playing catch with a several weeks old kitten, talking about feeding it to their dog. I took it from them and brought it home. I lived next to a cafe at the time and the kitten started going there with me in the morning for coffee and the paper, he was always given a little cream or something and eventually decided all the friendly people and treats at the cafe made it the place to be. The owners said they liked him and would get him fixed. he was rescued from the clutches of death,to become a well liked little shop cat.

There is a local mower shop that is known to keep a lab and a boxer mix behind the counter in the shop. lol. It was funny the first time i walked in and the one stood up on its back legs at the counter like it was going to help me. lol. That same shop also has to iguanas that are close to 3 or 4 foot and probably 50 pounds each that are in a case next to the counter. lol. Man i love that place i need to get over there more often. Thats about the only place i know of except the local lowes has some cats that hang out in the garden center and take care of the mice.

I used to visit an old style saloon in Red River, New Mexico on ski trips and fishing trips. They had a Labador retriever named Jack. Customers would buy him beers and he would drink them. I went one trip and he wasnt there. I asked the bar tender where was Jack ? "He is off on Wednesday" the bartender replied. I walked right into that one.

Actually, there's a little hardware store near were we live. We usually go their to buy construction supplies for one of our many building projects and house repairs. The owner has this little three legged cat that he rescued from the pound. It's a sweet little thing that just loves to be petted pawed at.

There's a gun shop about fifty miles away from me that's inhabited by an elderly pit bull with milky white eyes and grey hairs around it's muzzle. The owner's wife got him as a pup the same year she and her hubby celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary - that would be 1985.

He sniffs your hand, wags his tail a little and that pretty much tuckers him out.